Sunday Night Internet Geek Panic

So this past Sunday night I was settling in on the couch getting ready for the huge Pittsburgh Steeler Baltimore Raven football game on Sunday Night Football. As a fantasy football geek, I had my Macbook Pro fired up and ready to check scores during the game. I mean, this was the final week of the regular season for both of my leagues, so it was important to have the computer fired up and ready online. As the pregame show was rolling on NBC, I set aside the computer and helped get my two little ones ready for bed, that way I would not be disturbed once kickoff took place shortly after 8:00!

However, when I returned to my computer and attempted to open a new page....nothing. Nothing would load. The computer was receiving a wireless signal, yet no web pages would come into view. I attempted all of my quick geek fixes: restart the computer, restart the router, restart the modem, I even ran a hard line to the computer and still had nothing. It was not until I picked up my iPhone and used the data option to run a Google search of "Comcast" did I realize that the problem was much larger than an outage in my living room. Thanks to the search I was able to read a variety of "Tweets" on the Internet issues Comcast was having in the Midwest. By the way, Twitter is the fastest way to get news. Even if you do not think you will be leaving your own "tweets" you can follow a number of others that you may have interest in to keep up to date on anything and everything. What in the world would I do without Internet service on a Sunday night, not to mention a huge NFL Sunday Night?

No Internet? Now I know how Big Ben felt when his nose was broken Sunday Night.....
well maybe not that bad!

So, with no Internet access, I simply shut down the computer and sat back to watch the game. What a strange feeling it was to sit and look at a useless computer on my coffee table. When I was in high school home Internet access was just in its infancy. When I first moved out on my own, I was using dial up Internet and thought it was great for jumping on the Internet when needed. So what has changed in the last ten years?

Come on, Is anyone really still using dial up?

Now, I am spoiled with high speed Internet access anywhere in my house thanks to my wireless router and cable provider. Is it crazy for me to say that my home data network/Internet access is just as important as my power, cable television and telephone service? I was loosing it Sunday evening, checking every five minutes to see if I was able to get back online to no avail. So, I enjoyed a great football game and Pittsburgh Steeler victory and went off to bed with no Internet access until the next morning, what a tragedy. Was the Comcast outage a problem for you? Did you have an assignment to submit online? Did you have some online shopping you wanted to wrap up Sunday evening? Did you want to update your Facebook page or order some holiday photo cards online? It is amazing how important home Internet access is to so many of us. Well, at least the Comcast cable worked, so I was able to watch Faith Hill's introduction and huge a Steeler win!

Comments

The internet was out in Boston too. It was a tragedy, until someone on twitter said we could get online if we reset our router so it would use google's DNS server instead of Comcast's. Problem solved! Isn't twitter great? Comcast was back up the next morning, which was a huge relief because I was home sick and would've been bored out of my mind.

We are Time Warner here in WI, so no issues...but yeah, our lives are wrapped around technology these days, aren't they? We went to Mexico for a week in May. We purposely did not bring a laptop, and it would have cost $15 a day for personal internet access in the room. I didn't intend to use any computer at all, but because calling out was such a pain, I wound up agreeing to go the business center in the resort once a day to check email from my Mom to make sure the kids were OK. It was so good to "check out". I've been on my facebook sabatical for about 30 hours now and I've gotten SO much more done today...and there is no urgency to get there. Now I can do things like read this blog, something I wasn't doing before since I was too wrapped up in the world of social networking. I'm glad the technology is there, but it's good to unplug it once in awhile!

Michelle, I'm a sucker and have paid the $15 before....I guess I"m hooked and need my web access. You are brave, I'm not sure I could give up Facebook, and now I'm hooked on Twitter, I think I need an intervention!

It is hard to realize how much of my computer routine was built around "checking in" on FB. I doubt I'll make it through my winter break from school, but right now I'm just trying to put more focus on my family. We are done have the little stinkers and they won't ever be this age again. Next time I come to MI we gotta hook up, I think my Mike & kids and your family would complement eachother well. I have no plans for awhile though...not with the transport issues with Ryan right now. I'll let you know for sure!

I love to read and write. I hope one day to pen my own novel. For now I will be happy just keeping this blog going. I also love technology and gadgets. My favorite thing to do is spend time with my family. My family is everything to me. Feel free to contact me at mpehote@gmail.com